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John Witherspoon (actor)
| birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Sherman Oaks, California, U.S. | nickname = Pops | occupation = Actor, comedian | years_active = 1977–2019 | spouse = | children = 2 }} John "Pops" Witherspoon (born John Weatherspoon; January 27, 1942 – October 29, 2019) was an American actor and comedian who performed in various television shows and films. Best known for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series, Witherspoon also starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992) and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). He has also made appearances on television shows such as The Wayans Bros. (1995–99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Boondocks (2005–2014), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and Black Jesus (2014). He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club. Early life John Weatherspoon was born on January 27, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan. He later changed his last name to "Witherspoon". Witherspoon was one of 11 siblings. His elder brother, William, became a songwriter for Motown, with whom he penned the lyrics of the 1966 hit single "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted". Another sibling, Cato, was a director of the PBS-TV Network/CH56 in Detroit for almost four decades. Their sister, Gertrude Stacks, is a pastor in Shalom Fellowship International church in Detroit. Witherspoon had a passion for music and learned to play the trumpet and French horn. Career Witherspoon worked occasionally as a model. During the 1960s and 1970s, he began to take a liking towards comedy. During that time he began his stand-up comedy career. As a result, he had many friends in the business, including Tim Reid (while he was working on WKRP in Cincinnati and The Richard Pryor Show), Robin Williams (also on The Richard Pryor Show), Jay Leno, and David Letterman. Witherspoon has performed in many feature films (usually comedies), including Friday (and its sequel Next Friday) as well as Hollywood Shuffle, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Bird, Vampire in Brooklyn, and The Meteor Man. Witherspoon was also known for his over-the-top characters in films such as House Party, in which he played an irritated neighbor who is repeatedly woken up by the party, and Boomerang with Eddie Murphy, where he plays Mr. Jackson, the ill-mannered father of Murphy's best friend. Television His first television appearance was on the 1970s CBS television show Barnaby Jones, playing a camp counselor for drug addicted youth. Subsequent appearances were on Good Times, What's Happening!! and The Incredible Hulk. In 1977, he became a regular on the series The Richard Pryor Show, an NBC American comedy series. This then led to his appearance in WKRP In Cincinnati in 1982 in the fourth-season episode "Circumstantial Evidence" in which Witherspoon played Detective Davies. In 1981, he appeared in Hill Street Blues, an NBC police drama, as a man who tries to buy a hotdog from undercover Detective Belker. In 1981, he had an appearance on L.A. Law, an NBC legal drama, in the episode "On Your Honor" as Mark Steadman. He appeared in other television series including You Again? as Osborne, 227, which was an NBC comedy about women who lived in a majority black apartment complex, and What's Happening Now!!, the sequel to What's Happening!!. A year later Witherspoon was in Amen (1988), an American television sitcom that ran on NBC, as the bailiff. The show was known for being one of the shows during the 1980s that featured an almost entirely black cast. Next came spots on Townsend Television (1993), Cosmic Slop (1994), and Murder Was The Case (1994) as a drunk. He appeared in Fox's Living Single (1997) episode "Three Men and a Buckeye" as Smoke Eye Howard. His largest role in a television series was in The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999) which aired on The WB and starred Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, who played brothers Shawn and Marlon Williams. Witherspoon played their father, John "Pops" Williams. Witherspoon was on the Kids' WB animation series Waynehead, which was about a young boy growing up poor in the Harlem, New York City. The show was aired on Saturday mornings and was based on creator Damon Wayans' life. In 2003, Witherspoon made a showing on NBC's Last Comic Standing, a reality television show that selected the comedian out of a group and gave him a contract, in the Las Vegas finals. Also in 2003, he performed in The Proud Family, an animated series that aired on Disney Channel, as Oran Jones in the episode "Adventures in Bebe Sitting." He also performed in an episode of another Disney Channel's animated series, Kim Possible. He starred in the comedy series The Tracy Morgan Show as Spoon in all 18 episodes of the show. In 2004, he was in Pryor Offenses, a television movie where he played Willie the Wino. In 2005, he was seen in the Comedy Central talk show Weekends at the D.L. where he played the character of Michael Johnson. In the same year, he began starring in Aaron McGruder's animated series The Boondocks as Robert Jebediah "Granddad" Freeman; this Cartoon Network series ran for four seasons. In 2006, he performed in a television movie, Thugaboo: A Miracle on D-Roc's Street, a story about a group of kids who find the true meaning of Christmas. In the movie he plays Real Santa, a Christmas singer on the radio. His next appearance was on The Super Rumble Mixshow in 2008. He also appeared in another Aaron McGruder series, Black Jesus, portraying Lloyd, a homeless man. In 2011, he starred in a Final Destination spoof with Shane Dawson on YouTube. In May 2013, he featured on "Saturday (skit)", from rapper Logic on his latest mixtape Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever. Music videos Witherspoon appeared in a number of music videos in the music industry. He was in the music video for hip-hop superstar Jay-Z's 2000 single "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)". He was also in Field Mob's music video for their song "Sick of Being Lonely". Other music movies include Goodie Mob's "They Don't Dance No Mo'" and LL Cool J's "Ain't Nobody". Comedy tour Witherspoon went back to his comedian roots and started a comedy tour that premiered on television on March 28, 2008 on Showtime Network. On his 2009 tour, he had 19 stops across the country. In December 2011, Witherspoon performed his stand up comedy act once again on stage at the Funny Bone comedy club at Harrah's Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Personal life and death In 1988, Witherspoon married Angela Robinson. They have two children, John David ("J.D.") and Alexander. J.D. is known for making skits and gameplay videos on YouTube, and currently hosts the mobile game show Confetti on Facebook Watch. David Letterman is the godfather to Witherspoon's two sons. Witherspoon died at his home in Sherman Oaks, California on October 29, 2019. Filmography Film Television References Further reading * External links * Bio at bangbangbangbang.com (archived on November 26, 2011) * * * John Witherspoon's "Cooking for Poor People" YouTube series Category:1942 births Category:2019 deaths Category:African-American male actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:American male voice actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Male actors from Detroit Category:Male models from Michigan